12 Creative Ways to Use a Notebook

Here are twelve useful and interesting ways to fill your little notebook.

It’s Boxing Day, or perhaps the day after your birthday. Either one would do.

Yesterday you received a whole heap of presents, you lucky person, and one was an extra special new notebook.

Your notebook is bright and shiny, with a lovely patterned cover, a neat elastic loop to keep everything together and a sweet little ribbon bookmark. Oceans of crisp, empty paper are waiting to be filled with... what?

You may not have faced this dilemma before and may feel a little overawed by all this wealth of carnet, which is French for notebook and sounds rather lovely. So, to the rescue, here are twelve ideas for useful and interesting ways of filling your little book.

1. Journal

Let’s get the most obvious one out of the way first: a journal. It does not have to be anything as detailed as Samuel Pepys’ diaries, but jotting a quick note at the end of the day to record events, both good and bad, can be very soothing and makes interesting reading for the future. You do not even have to do it every day, just when you would like to capture a memory or two.

2. One-liner journal

If the idea of a full-blown journal feels daunting, why not try a one-liner journal? Write one sentence to sum up the day, an event or simply how you feel. You could even write a string of expressive words, with no need to make a complete sentence.

3. Doodle diary

If writing is not your thing, what about a doodle diary? “I can’t draw,” I hear you say. Well, you do not have to be able to draw to doodle. Start with a shape and find interesting ways to divide and fill it. Let your pencil do its own thing; you may be surprised by what appears.

4. New word diary

A new word diary can be fun to keep. Each day, collect a word you did not know before and make a note of it and its meaning. This can be useful when you are trying to find a new way to say something, and can also be rather impressive in conversation. Besides, words are so nice to hoard, don’t you think?

5. Mood book

One of my favourite ways to use a notebook is as a mood book. This involves getting a little bit messy with paper, inks, glue and other bits and pieces to create designs and pictures that reflect how you feel. This mood book video shares a fun way to use a special carnet and turn it into a mini treasure trove of delights.

6. Positivity notebook

A positivity notebook can be just the thing if you are going through a tough patch. Instead of writing down all the difficult things going on, look back at your day and try to find at least three things you did well or enjoyed. Perhaps it was a generally rubbish day at work, but you had a pleasant conversation with a client, saw a beautiful butterfly outside your window and finished a tricky assignment. Positive, see.

7. Bullet journal

If you tend to be disorganised, miss events and appointments or forget tasks, try making a bullet journal and you may become so efficient that you barely recognise yourself. This method was devised by Ryder Carroll, who has put together a bullet journal video guide. It would be a very good use of one of your notebooks and could set you on the road to lifelong organisation.

8. Stash list

If you are a DIY or crafty person, filling a notebook with a stash list of your materials is a great idea. Better yet, make a note of exactly where to find each item.

How many times have you seen the perfect project and known that you have just the material, yarn, wood, paper or whatever you need to make it, only to hunt all over and discover that your material is just too short, or you only have one ball of that perfect yarn and need two? Making a stash list will save you all that grief.

9. Flying notebook

How about starting a flying notebook with your best friend? This idea works very well if the book is on the small side and your friend lives some distance away. You write, draw or create something in the notebook, pop it in an envelope and post it to your friend. They do the same and post it back. Over time, you will have an ongoing conversation between the two of you that will be lovely to look back on in the future.

10. Reflections book

A reflections book is a lovely thing to write in at the end of the day. You can add things like:

• I wish I had done this better today.
• This made me laugh today.
• This made me sad today.
• This gave me pause for thought today.
• This I did really well today.
• I wish I had done this today.

It makes you think about the things you do every day and how you might get more out of them.

11. Goals diary

A goals diary can be a good way to stay focused on the things you want to achieve. Each day, write down a few things you would like to do the following day. At the end of that day, tick off the things you managed and make a note of how they made you feel. For anything you did not complete, jot down why and move it to the next day. Do not beat yourself up about missing it; just have another go.

12. Love book

A really lovely use for a new notebook is as a love book. Write in something every day that a loved one has done to make you love them even more. If it is your sweetheart, write it for a year and give it to them on Valentine’s Day. If it is your mum or dad, do the same and give it on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. It will be so appreciated that you will have plenty of brownie points to spare.

So, there are twelve great uses for all of those lovely new notebooks.

If, by some sad chance, you do not happen to get twelve crisp new notebooks for Christmas or your birthday, have a look at our notebooks and you will find a wonderful selection to buy yourself for every use. Have fun with whichever ones you choose.